Prescription drug database would help fight abuses

Earlier this year, the state finally woke up to the fact that mounds of prescription drugs are being sold illegally on the streets and that people are putting themselves in grave danger.

New York lawmakers approved the process of creating an Internet-based system to connect doctors and pharmacists to a "real-time" database that would track prescriptions being doled out, so abuses of the system can be caught immediately.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has pushed for this database, calling the illegal use of prescription drugs an "epidemic" and deeming it "the fastest-growing drug problem in New York and in the United States."

A recent audit by the state Comptroller's office confirms that assertion - and shows why the state has to get this database fully operational as soon as possible.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli reports that more than 325,000 prescriptions for controlled substances - some filled more than once - contained errors or inconsistencies in critical information. Ominously, nearly half of the drugs acquired with these prescriptions were addictive painkillers or sleeping aids, such as ox­ycodone, and hydrocodone, also known as Vi­codin.

The Comptroller Office's audit found that the state Department of Health didn't adequately oversee the prevention of prescription drug abuse. And this precisely goes to why the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (or I-STOP) is needed.

While the Legislature has approved the concept, the rules, regulations and guidelines still have to put in place so doctors and pharmacists will know what drugs have to be included in the database.

State Health Department officials say they are working on these many details and expect to have the database implemented as envisioned by August 2013. They also note that a number of the examples cited in the comptroller's report were not instances of criminal activity but pure mistakes made by those typing in the data about the prescriptions. They say this demonstrates why as the new system begins operative, those entering the data will need the proper training and clear guidelines to do the job right. While doctors can voluntarily report prescriptions to a state Health Department database, New York has been one of only a few states that has not required at least weekly reporting.

As a result, New York doctors and pharmacies have no way of knowing whether they are being used to overprescribe drugs to an addict - or whether drug traffickers are using them for their illegal business.

In a meeting this year with the Poughkeepsie Journal Editorial Board, Schneiderman noted that these drugs are not being manufactured in someone's basement or being grown in their backyard; "they are coming through the legitimate pipeline."

Precisely.

The state has prosecuted cases in which people have been able to forge hundreds of prescriptions and arranged for them to be filled at pharmacies throughout the state. I-STOP should be able to halt these practices, but the plans needs to be fully operational and comprehensive in scope to achieve that important objective.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Prescription drug database would help fight abuses

Earlier this year, the state finally woke up to the fact that mounds of prescription drugs are being sold illegally on the streets and that people are putting themselves in grave danger.New York